Month: February 2014

Berkeley Law Amicus Brief Highlights Benefits of Transit-Oriented Development

Smart growth alternatives would help end the vicious cycle of highway expansion and housing sprawl in San Diego region

Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment (CLEE) filed an amicus brief last week in a California Court of Appeal case with far-reaching implications for development, transportation, and California’s climate goals. The case, Cleveland National Forest Foundation v. San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), challenges the State’s first Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy …

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Protecting Marine “Wilderness”

A new study shows how to strengthen marine preserves.

The Bush Administration is not remembered fondly by environmentalists, but one important exception came at the beginning of 2009.  That’s when President Bush created an additional 195,000 square miles of marine reserves, on top of the 140,000 miles he had created previously.  Such marine reserves are not unique to the United States, of course.  Yet, …

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How Legalizing Marijuana Could Help Fight Climate Change

The link between indoor grow operations and energy data

Now that the two states that just legalized marijuana sent their football teams to the Superbowl this year, it’s clear that the stars are aligning for legalizing marijuana nationwide. Sure, legalizing marijuana makes fiscal, moral, and practical sense, but what about the benefits to the environment? Well, it turns out that even the fight against …

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It’s Not Waste, It’s An Ecosystem

Letting rivers flow supports ecosystems and people

One thing that droughts in the West provoke are political battles over water.  The drought that California is currently in is no exception.  Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have just passed a bill that would – more or less – exempt farmers in the Central Valley from environmental laws like the Endangered Species …

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Pine Beetles, Environmental Law, and Climate Change Adaptation

Inflexible laws may be the best response to climate change

Anyone who lives or has visited the Intermountain West over the past decade or so has noticed the devastating impact of a mountain pine beetle epidemic on the pine forests from Arizona and New Mexico all the way up to British Columbia and Alberta.  As a result of warmer winter weather because of climate change, …

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A Bridge Made of Natural Gas Is a Shaky Thing

When will we start to manage our natural gas resources?

For the last half century, domestic natural gas policy has looked something like this: Natural gas is the cleanest of the fossil fuels. It is versatile and economical. So, let’s pull it out of the ground and use it as fast as we can. In the last decade, the policy has been appended to include …

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California’s Flawed Approach to Electric Vehicle Public Charging

Legal settlement to commit $100 million to new charging stations has not been effective

Back in 2000, rolling blackouts descended upon California and eventually cost Governor Gray Davis his job.  The crisis was caused by deviant corporate behavior, and one of the companies involved, NRG, finally settled with the state in 2012 for damages related to its conduct.  But instead of being punished, the California Public Utilities Commission allowed …

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Keystone Nation: Mapping the Politics of the Pipeline

Keystone XL would run through a column of Red States and depopulating counties.

Looking at three maps sheds some interesting light on the the politics of the Keystone XL pipeline. The pipeline’s geography resonates in an interesting way with political and demographic geography.  We can start with two maps that show the proposed route (on the left) and the dates in which counties reached their peak populations. You …

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Offshore Fracking Battles Brewing in the Golden State

Increased attention to fracking off the California Coast; what our state agencies can do about it

As prior blog posts and reports have detailed, hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) has been occurring onshore in California for decades, yet without full disclosure to the public or state regulatory agencies.  Recently, new reports of offshore fracking in both California and federal waters have surfaced, showing that fracking has also been underway off the coast for …

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Is It Unconstitutional for the President to Implement Major New Policies by Regulation?

According to the Supreme Court, when statutes are unclear, the President is supposed to make policy judgments. That’s not unconstitutional — it’s just business as usual.

The short answer is a resounding No.  Some domestic initiatives obviously do require Congressional approval because they are clearly outside the authority conferred by existing law.  But Congress has given the executive branch broad discretion to regulate in many areas, and the executive branch can use that authority for major policy initiatives.  The only real …

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